430 AGRICULTURE, COMMERCE, ETC. 



made other arrangements, and what instruments I do possess 

 are my own property. It is, however, rather annoying to hear 

 men in power hold forth continually about their appreciation of 

 science, and then to receive nothing but empty phrases when 

 one applies to them. 



Our communication with the Bahr-el-Ghazal territory has 

 been interrupted for a long time, at least by the usual post- 

 road which runs from here through Amadi, Ayak, and Eum- 

 bek to Gok-el-Hassan and Jur Ghattas, for the Dinka round 

 Jur Ghattas have revolted, and the Bongo round Gok-el- 

 Hassan have joined them. I have therefore opened a new 

 route, passing through Makraka to Gosa, and thence north- 

 wards through Sabbi to Wau. Of course this is a much 

 longer road, so I have received no news from there for the 

 last three months. I hear reports of two steamers having 

 arrived there to take so-called basing er to Khartum as recruits ; 

 this will, of course, not fail to increase the existing discontent 

 considerably, for our Negroes do not like to leave their native 

 country, and the thought of going to Khartum is quite horrible 

 to them. We do not know what is going on in Fashoda and 

 the neighbourhood, for the Government prefers to leave us in 

 the dark. Darfur is probably already lost to the Government, 

 for Slatin wrote several times to Lupton asking for assistance, 

 as his situation was really desperate, but Lupton had to refuse 

 it, as he could not trust his own province. Five to six thousand 

 Danagla still live in the Bahr-el-Ghazal territory, just as they 

 did in Gessi's time, although he emphatically asserted that he 

 had sent them all away. As regards my own — and I have a 

 good share of them, and cannot dispense with them, having no 

 soldiers — I have nothing to complain of. I have kept them in 

 order with a rod of iron, much as a battalion of Bashi-Bazuks 

 is held in check ; they do not love me, but they fear me, and 

 therefore obey. It may be that certain rather singular situa- 

 tions, from which I fortunately came out in triumph, have 

 thrown a sort of halo round me. I hope that all will go 

 on smoothly with us, and that the youngest province of the 

 Egyptian dominion will also be the most sensible. 



